Chasing Thunder
by queenpearl
Summary: The epic 110 day chase across the Southern Ocean, retold by the ships themselves!
1. Chapter 1

Thunder licked her lips as she saw she had food in the net. It wasn't Chilean Sea Bass but it would be her dinner. As the creature, a young shark, was brought aboard and dispatched, her crew tossed it overboard and she snatched it up.

"Mmm, I needed that." She purred.

"You're welcome, Thunder. We slaves got to stick together right." One replied.

Thunder sighed. Yes, she was as good as a slave in her work. Most of her kind were. But the food was good and she was treated semi-okay so she wasn't going to complain.

Her attention was diverted to another ship on the horizon. Closer inspection revealed it to be a New Zealand flagged warship.

"We've got company!" She called.

A second ship appeared behind the New Zealand ship. "Double trouble!" She screamed. "Double trouble! Double trouble! Oh god help me!"

Thunder danced around. If there was one thing that she feared the most, it was that dazzle colored paint scheme. That meant Sea Shepherd. Translation: She was screwed!

The New Zealand ship, Melbourne, pulled up alongside her. "Alright lassie, let me take a look at your catch and I'll be on my merry way." She said.

Thunder bit her lip. How could she refuse? She bobbed her head in a nod, keeping her eyes warily on the dazzle colored ship as she circled. Likewise the other ship kept her own green eyes on her, teeth bared into a snarl. Thunder gulped. She'd never seen a more intense and focused look on any ship before.

Melbourne, having searched all over, found the Chilean Sea Bass.

"Please don't take me back!" Thunder whimpered, cowering down in a quiver.

"Oh, I'm not going to take you back." Melbourne replied sweetly.

Thunder brightened. "You're not?" She asked.

"No, I'm going to leave it to Pol here to take you back for me." Melbourne replied.

The dazzle colored ship, Pol or as her name said Bob Barker, grinned.

Thunder quivered in fear. "No, please..." She begged.

"I'll give you some advice lassie." Melbourne said, trying and failing to hide a smirk. "Run."

And that's exactly what Thunder did. She took off so fast one would've thought the ocean was on fire. Pol took off after her.

"Get back here you little rat!" She shouted.

Thunder whimpered and increased her speed. _"Can this day get any worse?"_ She thought to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Thunder now understood the meaning of the word jinx. _"I should not have thought it couldn't get any worse."_ She moaned to herself.

Obviously it could, Pol had been on her tail for 21 straight days and showed no signs of stopping. The last time any ship had chased a poaching vessel this long was an Australian ship years ago. Thunder had thought Pol would give up. She was wrong. Apparently the words give up were not in the Sea Shepherd deputy's vocabulary.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll quit cause I'm not gonna. I can keep this up for a whole year if I have to!" She called.

"Not on your life you pokodoted bitch!" Thunder shot back.

Pol started laughing behind her. "Is that your best comeback?" She asked. "That's pathetic!"

Thunder knew she was just trying to rile her and bit back her growl of anger. A second ship fell in behind her, also dazzle colored but not nearly in extravagant pattern as Pol.

"Sam, about time you showed up!" Pol cried.

"Sorry, got held up. I swear Westra gets more motherly by the day." Simon groaned.

"She worries. What can I say?" Pol chuckled. "How's she doing?"

"She's in the drydock now and she's been ordered on 4 month leave. Naturally she protested." Simon said.

"How far could she be heard this time?" Pol sighed.

"At least 20 miles. I could still hear her screaming cuss words loud and clear from that distance." Simon replied.

"At least she's shouting. That's a good sign." Pol said.

"She's been hurting for a while now though. She deserves the rest." Simon said.

"If she'll take it that is. That ship will work until she dies." Pol snorted.

"Tell me about it." the male ship grumbled as he brushed against Pol.

"Don't even think about it!" Pol growled. "We're on a mission right now."

Simon pouted. "Aww, but Pol." He whined. "Do as you are told, Simon." Pol growled.

"Fine..." He huffed and moved off a short distance, beginning to circle Thunder. _"Time to have a little fun."_ He thought.

"Nah, nah, nah, nah! You can't catch me!" He sang in a grating tenor.

Pol even winced and Thunder practically had steam coming out of her ears. A bit more taunting and she snapped, lunging at Simon. He dodged nimbly out of the way.

"That the best you got?!" He called.

Panting, Thunder lunged again. Pol frowned. True, the smaller ship had been running for days now but she shouldn't be that tired yet. Something was very wrong with Thunder.

Simon again dodged out of the poaching ships way. "Come on, take a punch at me!" He taunted.

Thunder glared at him and Pol caught a glimpse of the pain she was trying to hide behind her eyes, a warning. "Simon, that's enough!" She roared.

Simon paused. "Enough Simon, I'll deal with her on my own." Pol said.

Though it was brief, Thunder's eyes flashed their gratefulness. Pol gave a slight nod. She understood now what Thunder must be feeling. She too had once been a ship like her. A whaler and in a twist of irony she was now opposing such a practice. Heck, she'd even been present when her commander, Andenes, had collided with Whales Forever, an early Sea Shepherd ship.

Now here she was, deputy of the very organization she'd once helped to attack. But she still remembered those early days, though she tried not to and she knew that Thunder was just like how she was once. A slave forced to bow to the whip of the master who was uncaring of her health. Thunder ate whatever she caught that was undesirable and she could sometimes go for days without such a thing. Also, she ate pretty much whatever so who knew what kind of diseases she could pick up.

It appeared something was affecting her for she looked too thin for a poaching vessel with a large catch. She also was having trouble breathing which was another issue. Thunder was ordinarily a very fit vessel, she could run rings around Pol on a good day. That wasn't the case now. Now she looked weak, tired, and sick.

As Thunder continued on Pol noticed her speed had dropped drastically. She was now going a mere 10 knots. Periodically her head would droop and her shoulders would shake. Her sides, rising and falling quickly, would tremor. Pol bit her lip in worry. Of course Thunder was a poacher, they were on opposite sides but Pol couldn't shake the feeling of sympathy she had. Thunder had no choice in what she was doing. She was forced into it and it was costing her. Pol's actions were only adding to that. The former whaler was tempted just to let Thunder go but she knew she couldn't do that. She had her duty and at least if Thunder were detained she might get proper medical treatment for whatever was ailing her.

 _"Hold firm Thunder, but give up your quest. Let me help you."_ She thought.


	3. Chapter 3

One month turned into 2 months and Thunder could no longer hide the sick feeling she'd been getting for months now. Her breathing changed to more of a wheeze and a painful dry cough wracked her frail frame often. She'd also started throwing up her own oil fuel. Something was very wrong, she knew that.

Behind her Pol was nearly sick herself with worry. She scolded herself numerous times for feeling such things for an enemy. She'd been scolding herself so much lately that she began to wonder if she was going mad.

Watching globs of spit up oil float by her, Pol sighed and decided to make a call...

...

The phone wasn't entirely unexpected but it still annoyed Westra who groaned and rolled over with a hiss of pain to pick it up.

"Hello?" She rasped, wincing at how terrible her voice sounded.

"Westra?" It was Pol. "Is this a bad time, I could call back..."

"No, no. It's alright. What's going on down there Pol?" Westra asked.

"I need a relief, Westra. Could you send Bridgett down? I'm losing my mind here!" Pol cried.

"Why not let Simon take over?" Westra asked.

"Because he's too annoying for his own good!" came the reply.

Westra bit back a groan. Of course that's exactly the sort of thing Pol would say about the former Japanese whaler. Despite being a former whaler herself, that didn't make Pol trust the young male any better. If anything, she only hated him more. Westra was no psychologist and she didn't even want to begin to think about the psychotics behind that.

"Pol, why do you need to be relieved?" Westra asked.

"I told you, I'm losing it!" Pol replied.

"How?" Westra asked, fighting back a smirk. If there was one thing Pol was, it was melodramatic.

"Westra, I'm serious here." Pol scolded.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Westra replied.

Pol snorted and continued "I'm scolding myself for what I'm feeling. Thunder, she's not doing good Westra. I'm afraid she might be dying."

Westra sighed. "You know you can't act on those feelings, Pol." She said.

"I know but it's bad. I used to be a whaler like her, I know what it's like. It's slave work, Westra and many died from it. I've seen it so much before and I-I don't want to have to see it again." Pol replied.

Westra closed her eyes and said quietly "I understand." She took a deep breath to steady herself. "But you know that you need to remain on station until either I or Bridgett can arrive and that won't be for another few weeks I'm afraid."

"I know, thank you Westra." Pol sighed.

"I'll be seeing you soon Pol, you've done well." Westra replied and hung up.

...

Pol sighed and turned her attention back to Thunder. The smaller ship was coughing again and she spat a goodly sized chunk of oil mixed with mucus.

"Thunder!" She called. "Are you sure you won't stop?"

Unlike the last times she'd called out to the poacher, she wasn't challenging. She was more concerned and Thunder was aware enough to notice the difference for her answer was different than usual too.

"I cannot stop." Thunder replied with a tired sigh.

"Then I will have to stop you." Pol replied. Once this would've been seen as a threat but the Sea Shepherd deputy had a new meaning to her words. One Thunder caught on to.

"If only you could, Pol." Thunder sighed in Norwegian. _"If only you could, my beautiful daughter."_


	4. Chapter 4

The chase was well into its third month by now and Pol and Simon were relentless, pushing Thunder farther and farther along. The aging poacher wished she'd never come down here. She wished she'd never agreed to work for Nigeria's illegal fishing industry. She wished she'd never left Norway and most of all, she wished she'd never abandoned Pol.

Thunder had recognized the former Norwegian whaler. She had to admit she was shocked. Pol had grown so much. She was only a teenage shipling when Thunder had last seen her so she wasn't sure what to expect but a Sea Shepherd ship was certainly not one of her expectations. Nonetheless she was secretly proud of her daughter's accomplishment. At least she'd done some good with her life. A part of her wished she could just shut down her engines and stop running from her own daughter. To stop Pol from chasing her. Of course Pol wouldn't remember her but still. It hurt her to be hunted by her child.

Her radio crackled and the a great shock came upon Thunder as she learned that Nigeria had stripped her registry. She was now a pirate vessel. This was the last straw for the ailing old ship. She brandished a knife. Pol, seeing this, rushed forward.

"Thunder, what are you doing?" She asked. "Put the knife down."

"Nigeria, gone. I have no flag..." Thunder whispered.

Pol winced. She remembered Westra telling her of how Farley had the same thing happen to her once. It came as a great shock to the old ship. Enough of one to cause a minor heart attack. Fortunately Farley was able to finish the campaign which would turn out to be her last.

"It's not the end of the world Thunder. You can still surrender. You clearly want this chase to end and so do I. Now put down the knife Thunder. Put it down and surrender." Pol begged.

Thunder had tears in her eyes as she shook her head. "I'll die free!" She declared.

"You're not free Thunder. Not now. You're a slave and you know it." Pol growled. "Now put down the knife."

Thunder whimpered, her grip shaking.

"Thunder..."

Pol's plea, her daughter's plea though Pol didn't know it, snapped Thunder out of it and she dropped the knife, letting it sink into the sea. Tears falling freely from her eyes, she whirled around and raced off. Pol went after her and the chase resumed.


	5. Chapter 5

110 days. 110 days was how long that chase lasted before Thunder, her fuel running low and her crew ready to give up, decided to scuttle her. For Thunder, death was a welcome relief. For years she'd toiled, exploiting and never giving. She'd longed for the early days when such a practice was not looked down upon. The thrill of the catch was gone and all Thunder saw when she pulled the nets up were lives being extinguished for nothing!

She slowed to a halt and began to list on her starboard side.

"Thunder!" Pol cried, racing forward.

Thunder groaned and turned her gaze onto her daughter. There was just one last thing she had left to do.

"Don't bother Pol, I'm going down and that's that." She said.

"But..." Pol began.

"Don't argue with me!" Thunder snapped. "Take my crew and go."

Pol bit her lip and nodded. "I'll take them." She promised and turned to move a safe distance away. It was now or never.

"Pol!" Thunder called her back.

"Yes Thunder?" She asked.

"You remember your Norwegian don't you?"

"Of course. It's my native tongue."

"It's mine as well. My name, Thunder is a translation of my name in Norwegian. In Norway, many years ago, I was known as Thora." Thunder sighed.

"But that's, that's my mother's name... She left when I was little." Pol and Thunder's gazes met and it was then the younger ship knew.

"Why?" Pol asked, tears coming to her eyes.

"So many things happened. My role in the Falklands War made me a target and I thought you'd be safer if I wasn't there. So I left, thinking I could return later once the war had ended. I was wrong." Thunder sighed. "You must think I abandoned you, left you at such a young age."

Pol didn't answer, she was still trying to process everything. Is this why she felt some connection to Thunder. She knew know that she'd always known. On a subconscious level she'd known Thunder was her missing mother.

"The worst part about it was, I didn't even know what you looked like at first." Thunder murmured. "But those eyes, they've remained the same throughout the years. I can still see that rambunctious little shipling that went on night excursions around the harbor."

Pol managed a faint smile, recalling those days faintly. And she also recalled Thunder. She knew she'd seen the old ship before but she wasn't sure when or where. Now she knew...

"I should've come back. I should've found some way to come back. But I didn't, and you grew up believing I was either dead or missing. Can you-can you forgive me for that?" Thunder asked, her vision blurring. _"Not long now."_ She thought.

"I..." Pol began uncertainly but when her eyes met her mother's her gaze softened and she sighed. "Yes, I forgive you mother." She whispered. Thunder managed a shaky purr as the two nuzzled for the first time in 45 years.

"Look at you." She whispered. "So beautiful. You've done so much with your life, and for this planet." She stroked a wire against Pol's cheek. "I am so proud of you."

A stray tear found it's way from the corner of one of Pol's eyes. "Don't go..." Her voice broke. "Please..."

Thunder smiled sadly, a sense of peace washing over her. The only solace Pol had was seeing that peace reflected in her mother's eyes before they went dark forever. Tipping her head back, the Sea Shepherd deputy gave a loud wail that could be heard for miles.


End file.
